Spain · since 5 October 2026
The digital control document (DeCA), from your phone
Domestic road haulage in Spain, cabotage included, now needs the control document in digital form: a PDF with a QR code, issued before you set off. Check whether your trip needs it, what it must contain and how to make it with Cargoway in a couple of minutes.
Make it with CargowayDoes my trip need a DeCA?
A quick guide based on Order FOM/2861/2012. If in doubt, ask your customer or the transport administration.
What it must contain
The same data as the paper document (Article 6 of Order FOM/2861/2012):
- Shipper: name, tax ID and address.
- Carrier: name and tax ID.
- Place of origin and destination.
- Nature and weight of the goods.
- Date of the transport.
- Number plate of the vehicle or tractor unit, and of the trailer.
- Special traffic permit, if there is one.
- Remarks, if any.
The technical requirements
A native PDF
Generated as a PDF, not scanned, up to 5 MB, with its creation and modification dates.
A QR that downloads it
The PDF carries a QR code with a unique HTTPS link that downloads the document directly, with no login, for the inspector and for your customer.
Before setting off
It is issued before the transport starts. If something changes on the way, a new document with a new QR is issued and the old one is kept.
Kept for a year
It must stay available for one year. No signature is required, and several shipments can go in one document if the shipper and the carrier are the same.
How to make it with Cargoway
In “My profile”, open “Transport documents” and tap “New document”.
Choose Spain as the loading country and the document “Control document (DeCA)”. The trip, the goods and the plates come from your route; your details and previous customers fill in by themselves.
Tap “Issue document”: Cargoway creates the PDF with its QR and keeps it downloadable for 13 months.
Send it to your customer with “Share PDF” or “Copy link”. At a roadside check, the officer scans the QR on your screen or on paper.
Free
Issuing a DeCA is free: you watch a short ad when you issue it, and with Pro there are no ads. You sign in with Google or Apple so the QR works and the document is kept for a year.
Frequently asked questions
Since when is the DeCA mandatory?
Since 5 October 2026, under the eighth transitional provision of Law 9/2025 on Sustainable Mobility. The technical requirements are set by the Resolution of 5 June 2026 of the Directorate-General for Road and Rail Transport.
Who has to make it?
The shipper and the actual carrier are both responsible for it being correct and travelling with the vehicle. Many self-employed hauliers make it themselves with their customer’s details.
Is a CMR valid as a DeCA?
A CMR can serve as the control document if it carries the data required by Article 6 of Order FOM/2861/2012. On international trips the CMR is still the document to carry.
I’m a foreign haulier doing cabotage in Spain. Do I need it?
Yes. Cabotage operations within Spain need the DeCA too, on top of the usual cabotage evidence. Cargoway also counts your cabotage operations and days per country.
Does it have to be signed?
No. The rules do not require a signature on the DeCA.
What if the load or the vehicle changes during the trip?
A new document with a new QR is issued and the previous one is kept. In Cargoway that is “Correct”: it issues a new DeCA linked to the previous one.
The rules
Law 9/2025 on Sustainable Mobility (eighth transitional provision), Order FOM/2861/2012 (data, Article 6; exemptions, Article 2) and the Resolution of 5 June 2026 of the Directorate-General for Road and Rail Transport. This page is a guide: the legal text is the one published in the Spanish Official Gazette. BOE-A-2026-12784
Your next DeCA, in two minutes
Cargoway is a route planner for trucks that also makes your transport documents: the DeCA, the CMR and each country’s document, with cabotage control and EU driving and rest times.
